Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Ok, so last night I was working on my favorite WIP at this current moment. And since I last posted about not having a CP I received some very AWESOME offers which I totally intend to take them up on!!

But until then I wanted to do something daring...

Today I am posting no more than my first 1000 words. It's a little shy of that - I wanted to stop at some point.

Why am I doing this?
The world could end Friday and I wanted to do something scary and holy freakin' shitaky this is scary. What I want you to do is...
1.) of course to read it.
2.) critique it.
You can either do the critique here or send me an email at d.bertrand_12@yahoo.com
I want you to be as honest as possible. I know I have problems with certain things/areas and my feelings won't get hurt. Some days I'm on my A Game some days I have no clue what Game I'm playing. Through you I'm hoping to learn more. Thanks!

Here we gooooo.... I think I need a paper sack....

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Tree branches cracked and clicked as the cool autumn breeze washed the last of the evening’s warmth into the impeding night. Rena stirred the ambers while she hummed along with her obnoxious instrumental music. She only knew how to do a few things right; conger protective and healing spells, wield black magic, and annoy me.

A chill tickled up spine until it rested on my neck. I tried to brush it with a shrug but it sat there, beckoning.

“He’s out there, isn’t he?” Rena asked pulling her ear buds out.

I nodded. “You know he is.” I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t look into those eyes that were mine; those lips which moved like mine. She was me, but not me. She mocked me.

Rena stabbed at the coals some more with the poker before clicking the red button at the end of the silver rod. It folded up in on itself several times before she tucked it into her boot. “You shouldn’t have gotten so close. I told you he was playing possum. You never listen to me,” she yelled at me as if she was giving me a lesson.

“Berating me isn’t going to fix what happened back there, Rena. I’m aware of how dangerous Baquarats are,” I spewed, “and you of all people shouldn’t be giving any lectures on this side, or any side of danger for that matter.”

She flinched.

I cringed. Even I knew that was way below the belt. I went to speak but nothing – nothing could come out. For once I couldn’t find anything more than the simple word, “Sorry.”

Rena crumpled up into herself and slumped onto the oversized log she was sitting on. A single tear trickled down her slender check. It held for a moment before it plummet its long descent to the cold ground below. “I know Reese.” She sniffled.

My body envied Rena. Sleep was welcoming me with open arms and wasn’t letting go. That night I slept well. But well always meant dreams.

“So.” I pondered what had been explained to me. “Let me get this right, I’m a Völva?

“Yes, but our families are half Nøkken as well,” Tarrick reminded me. The one boy I finally decided to open myself up to turned out to be a liar. A user.

“Right, this coming from my current boyfriend slash spy slash Water Sprite. Did I cover it?” I hissed.

He winced.

“And they – you – are a shapeshifters too?” My head was reeling from the overload of information.

“No. Not exactly. Nøkken only change when we’re in the water. Reese wake up!”

Huh?

“Reese, wake up!”

Tarrick slaps me!

“Wake up, Reese!”

“Tarrick stop!” In the background I can hear Rena calling my name “Reese, wake up!” I look into Tarrick’s eyes realizing this has only been a dream. I would give anything to have this moment in time back. “Bye my love.”

The smell of smoke had me gasping. “What is that? What’s going on?” Sweat pooled at the base of my neck and the small of my back. We were surrounded by a small ring of fire.

“I – I didn’t know what else to do,” Rena stammered.

“Arrows?” I asked.

She nodded. Another talent of my brightly gifted twin – archery. Why weapons when we can manipulate magic? Some parts of this blessed beautiful sphere have Black Out spot such as this weald forest my sister and I have stumbled into. As long as we are touching something Earth Bound we cannot use magic.

“So genius, how do you propose we get out of this ring of fire?”

“Fly?” Her face mimics that of a toddler. Sweet yet pathetic.

“Sorry sweetness, I forgot thy broom at home,” I said with a curtsey.

Her eye roll spoke volumes but not as much as the growl that permeated from the opposite side of the flames.

“How long will it hold?” I asked.

“Until it burns off.” Her eyes scanned the circle before settling back on me.“Or us,” she urged. “Reese you’re gonna have to flash us outta here.”

“You know I can’t do that. She will see. She will see where we are.” At this point I wasn’t sweating from the flames. I was sweating bullets thinking about what I might have to do.

With a thud and a shift in the earth below my feet, the Baquarat stood at the edge of the inner circle. Erected over eight feet tall with five foot long arms, and two rows of razor sharp teeth including a pair of saber tusks; the beast looked like he could have pass for a large cuddly polar bear that walked on its hind legs. And that was on his good days. Any other day he smelled bad, was covered in blood, and looked like a white and red tie-died Minotaur. Today he was healed and hyped up on Völva blood. And that’s entirely my fault.

Two nights ago his body was in a heap at the side of a lake. Rena said not to get to close, but being the older sister I decided not to listen. I mean, really, she just trapped us into a ring of fire to keep out a Baquarat that has now trapped himself in here with us. She doesn’t have the best decision making abilities sometimes.

Long story short, my dumb ass unwilling let the ailing brute bite a chuck out of my leg and swallow.

Monday, December 17, 2012

2012 Edition of Express Yourself has come to end but it will start up again January 7th, 2013. I would like to say January 1st would be a more appropriate day but I could have a well induced vodka coma that day and it will not be pretty.

For this week’s Q & A; Jackie and I would love to know… What are a few of your Favorite Holiday Songs?

To be perfectly honest – I am not a huge fan of Christmas songs. *readers gasp* I know, I know. Shun me why don’t you! I have to be in the mood for it and that is seldom. The other day though, my son had his Christmas Program (they actually called it Christmas and not Holiday at his school – either way is fine by me). Well they had this section where the audience had to participate and I had fun singing O Holy Night, Joy to the World, and The First Noel. There were others but those are the ones I remember so they were probably my favorite of the night.

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On a more serious note; I was a little nervous sending my kids off to school today. My kids didn't want to go. But I can’t live in fear. I told them, "You can be fearful but you shouldn’t be hindered by fear itself." How did you deal with sending your kids off to school today? No big deal or BIG DEAL?

Friday, my older three kids and I were talking about what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary and my fourteen yr old said, “It’s so sad that so many kids died. So many families are going to be without their kids for Christmas. Do you think they were scared?”

“Scared how?” I asked.

“When they died,” He replied.

“No,” I said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Well the principal and counselor died first, right?” He shook his head. “So they waited for the little children and other teachers.” I assured.

“So they all went together?” My twelve year old daughter piped up.

“Yes, through the valley and everything. They didn’t have to go by themselves.” Little smiles danced in the corners of their mouths. It brought comfort to all of us. I needed it just as much as they did. How do you talk to your kids about world events?

And these are the only the ones I follow... check out Kelly to find out more!

Now on to why I logged on in the first place. I blogged last week (Wednesday to be exact) that I was going to reveal, in Jan, my NEW BLOG HEADER... well... I'm the worst at waiting. Ask anyone that knows me. Ask Jackie.

Unless you TELL me it's a secret, I can't remember to keep it. I have a hard time waiting, especially for Christmas and presents. It's not that I'm a blabber mouth, I just have some rules to keeping things secret.

1.) I've got too many kids, a busy schedule and life - I can't remember my own name half the time let alone what secrets I need to keep.

2.) You need to specify what I need to keep super secret. I let everyone know upfront before they start blabbing things to me. My close friends know this about me already.

3.) If you want to tell me something and then want me to forget about it... use two words... Pandora's Box. This is something that has always worked. You tell me a secret, say those words, my lips are sealed.

4.) Now, if I have been drinking, this can go two ways - ONE - I won't remember anyways, or TWO - I have forgotten you told me it was a secret. So you can either call me the next day and remind me it was a secret or you can chance it and hope I have forgotten. LMAO!

Between Jackie, my mother-in-law, and other friends, they all know and recently I have been reminded and asked to keep Christmas secrets or other fun ones. And I've been reminded. My mother-in-law is very impressed that I haven't cracked yet and told my kids what I've gotten them. I made a promise and I plan on keeping it. Haha!

So why can't I keep my own promise to myself and wait until Jan 1st to reveal my blog header. Well crap... I already know about it! Duh!

And it's not like you guys really care if I wait or not. So... here it is...

Monday, December 10, 2012

It's Monday and with it brings our weekly Express Yourself meme. But before we get to that, how was everyone’s weekend? Awesome! Mine was relaxing. Last night I watched Journey 2/ Mysterious Island. It was cute - had some pretty funny parts. Best line "hope it doesn't like a grown man with poop his pants." I busted a gut!

Anyways, this week Jackie and I are asking - What is your Dream Winter Getaway?

﻿﻿Some people LOVE the snow. I like it for about a day or two. And this usually consists of the weekend when I don't have to drive in it and if I do it’s for fun. I'm over it by the time Monday comes when I have to drive in it throughout the week. Fortunately it hasn't snowed as of yet due to higher temps. However I would love a white Christmas and not a muddy one. But I'm always guaranteed snow on my birthday. And my poor daughter usually gets a blizzard on hers.

Some place where the sand is white and soft as silk beneath my toes. And the ocean is vast and as clear as a summer sky. A place that makes my kids act like angels and provides activities to keep them happy. Maybe some place a little secluded too.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Can you believe it’s December already?! I know! Me either. It just unreal.

What am I feeling insecure about this month? – Finishing my book.Period.

Finishing my book means I’m at MY next phase in MY process which is finding a CP and handing it off. Why am I nervous about this? Well… I’ve already been through my fair share of CP’s. With no avail, they have all had very poor critiquing habits; i.e. harsh as in rude & crude, slow as in taking months to respond, or they completely drop the ball as in never replying back.

Oh, but I can’t be wholly blameless. I have dropped the ball on my end of the writing part. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE BY NOW! I keep changing things. However, I haven’t made the “changing circle of life” yet. This means, I haven’t changed things so much that I’m back to where I originally started. I’m making awesome changes!!!<-- See the exclamations?

Once I’m done though, I will be in desperate need of a critique. I have certain action scenes that will require some edits or maybe some major help. In my opinion, they do anyways. They are great scenes but I don’t know if my points come across or not. Like, it is so much easier to tell then show. Lol Ugh! Not that argument again… forget I mentioned it. I know the rules -->Show not tell.

On a more not-so-insecure-note, I have been working on a new header for my blog. Starting the first of the year, and my birthday month, my blog is getting a make-over. Whoop whoop!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Express Yourself is a weekly meme. It's goal is to help our fellow bloggers get to know one another better. To help motivate one another. Jackie and I wants to get to know you better and understand our community of writers, authors, and bloggers more.

This week we want to know - What is your most Memorable Holiday Gift?

For this meme, Jackie and I didn't list our children. Or our husbands. Or even the gift of life. Those things, above all, are the best gifts ever. But for this question, we want to know what present someone gave you that you remember most.

One Christmas I remember praying to the Christmas Angels that Santa would bring my brother Good Luck Bear. You know from the Care Bears. I was playing outside when I was, oh I don't know, like maybe 7 or 8 years old. And I just remember no one was around (we lived in BFE) and I just wished and prayed and wished some more that Santa or my parents or whoever brought the gifts would bring my brother his Care Bear. Of course I wanted Cheer Bear and Sunshine Bear but I really wanted him to have Good Luck Bear. Why? Because for his birthday that June he had received one and he let me play with it but dummy me left it outside and Rocky (our dog) got ahold of it.

Christmas morning I received the best present ever... my Cheer Bear & Sunshine and of course my brother's smile when he opened his Good Luck Bear *thank you Christmas Angels*! To this day my kids still have our original Care Bears, Pound Puppies & Purries, and Cabbage Patch/Pail Kids.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Not only does this help us get to know each other better - which is what I usually post about on Mondays but also helps us learn if we have been Naughty or Nice. Why is this important? Well there are some gifts involved.

Below are my answers to 10 Q's we are supposed to answer.

1. How many speeding tickets have you gotten?

One – back in 2004, and it was also the last time I’ve been pulled over … knock on wood.

2. Can you pitch a tent?

O__o

Ummm… Uhhhh… you mean the kind in the backyard right? Yeah, sure, I was a Girl Scout for 11 years. I can pitch a tent and build a fire before you can catch a fish to grill over it. But I’m not bragging or anything. Lol, jk.

3. What was your worst vacation ever?

I can’t really recall a horrible vacation but a trip to Cedar Point did take a turn for the worse once. I got so sick from the rides, I had to sit them out and vomit the whole 2.5 hour car ride home.

4. What was the last thing you bought over $100?

Just last week – I bought my hubby a flat screen TV for Christmas.

5. We’re handing you the keys to what?

Oh gosh… the Millenium Falcon! Oh I hope it comes with its own preserved Han Solo!

6. What was the last meal you cooked that made even you sick?

I made corn bread – my usual way – well this time it came out so bad that everyone, including myself, spit it out after one bite. It tasted like dish soap. I think my family thought I was trying to poison them

7. Fill in the blank: Oh my gosh! Becky, look at her butt! It is so big. She looks like _____?

I’d keep it old school … one of those rap guys girlfriends…

Then the beat starts playin’ in my head, my feet start to tap, and I break into an A Cappella rendition of… I like big butts and I cannot lie. No otha brotha can’t deny that when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waste and a round thang in yo face you get sprung… I do my rump shacker dance, a little bump butt here, some Roger Rabbit there, a bit of the Running Man, I even add the Cabbage Patch and Shopping Cart to the mix. Yeah my kids LOVE it when I do that! NOT!

8. What was your first car?

Red, 4 door, 1989, Chevy Cavalier

9. Your best friend falls and gets hurt. Do you ask if he/she’s okay or laugh first?

Most definitely laugh first! Neither one of us are very coordinated.

10. What’s the worst song ever?

The ones that get stuck in my head throughout the day and won’t go away.

Now go check out everyone else’s Q & A’s and see who has been Naughty and Nice!

The ever amazing Kyra Lennon has done it again with her new novel Blindsided.

Here she has given us a little taste of what to look forward too...

This is a small snippet from the start of Chapter 2, and is from the POV of Isabelle.

Tuning out the sound of Mr. Swift talking about the way writers use and adapt language, I closed my eyes and a picture of him filled my mind.

When my parents had told Georgia and me our cousin, Hunter, and his friend were coming to stay for a few weeks, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. Don’t get me wrong, Hunter was one of my favourite people in the world, and I wished he lived much nearer than he did, but having someone new in my house made me nervous. It took me a long time to warm up to new people, and most of the time, they didn’t wait around long enough for me to do so.

I met Jesse for the first time when I was twelve, and I thought he was a bit of a dork. He had long, skinny legs and twiggy arms. His hair was a blond mess, and he spent all his time playing football with Hunter, and mostly ignoring me and Georgia.

When I saw him on Saturday morning, in my living room, hair ruffled from him falling asleep on the sofa, my mouth felt like it was filled with sawdust, and I could barely choke out a ‘hello.’

He’d got kind of … gorgeous. He’d grown into his gangly arms and legs, and developed muscles, and the kind of chiselled jaw you think only exists in romance novels.

Right away, his looks put him way out of my league, but when you threw in the fact he was on his way to becoming a football legend in America, he was obviously a guy who wouldn’t look twice at plain old Isabelle Mills. He tried really hard to make conversation, I suppose because he felt sorry for me. I appreciated his efforts, and I think I may have even flirted with him a little over lunch before reminding myself I definitely wasn’t going to get his attention. Boys were Georgia’s area of expertise. She already had a boyfriend, but that didn’t stop the other guys at college from checking her out. She was just so confident, whereas I preferred to sit in the background. The last thing I needed was some prat like Leon Baxter following me around. Lucky for me, that particular creep definitely preferred Georgia, though honestly, I wouldn’t have wished him on anyone. I hated the way he stared at her, making disgusting innuendos. He was the kind of guy who gave all the rest a bad name.

“Isabelle?”

I jumped at the sound of Mr. Swift saying my name, and the rest of the class started laughing. I tried to subtly wipe my chin, just in case I’d accidentally been drooling on the desk while in my trance, and Georgia giggled beside me.

“Sorry, sir,” I said, wishing I could crawl under the desk and hide.

“Welcome back,” he said, smiling. “Are you ready to join in the discussion now?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Blindsided Synopsis:After a successful first soccer season in L.A, Jesse Shaw heads to London with his best buddy, Hunter, but his world is turned upside down when a dangerous prank threatens his career and his blossoming relationship with Hunter’s cousin, Isabelle.

Isabelle Mills lives in Notting Hill with her parents and her twin sister, Georgia. When she finds out her cousin is coming to stay, along with his famous soccer player friend, her first instinct is to hibernate until they’ve gone. However, once she meets Jesse, everything changes. He’s everything she ever wanted, but with so many obstacles in their path, can she really risk putting her heart on the line?

Author Bio:Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. After years spent working in retail, where she met enough versatile characters to write hundreds of books, she finally took the plunge and quit her day job. Kyra's debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012. While fiction writing has always been her passion, she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

December is in 2 days – give or take, depending on where you live, and with that comes and new Express Yourself Meme banner!

For the month of December we want to know...

Dec. 3-7: What is your most Memorable Holiday Gift? It can be anything. From your earliest memories to your most current.

Dec. 10-14: What would be your Dream Winter Getaway? Sick of being stuck in the same place and having cabin fever? Or maybe you don't mind the cold but wanna do something in the snow? We wanna know.

Dec. 17-21: What are a few of your Favorite Holiday Songs? I only really like a couple but you can name as many as you like. Some holiday songs just get you in the mood.

As stated in the banner... Jackie and I have decided to only prepare 3 weeks of EYM during the month of December because of the Holiday Season. With all of the festivities and whatnot, we didn't want to be under so much pressure. Not only that, but we didn't want our loyal EYM'ers to be either.

Side note: Next Monday is a busy blogging day for me so I will post my Memorable Holiday Gift on Tuesday.

Mondays blogs: Kyra Lennon stops by to share an except and some info on her new book Blindsided. And I will also be participating in the And You Are? Bloghop.

3. I know what buttons to push. Oh come on... who doesn't do this... on purpose? Please... you know you do. The only difference between me and other people in my family... I know how to do it well. And my kids and hubby HATE it. I can make any one of them talk without them realizing it.

And here are two imperfections I am working on...

4. Being too honest. I am very honest with another person. Please don't ask me to be honest with you unless you really want it. Maybe I need a class in Being Kosher 101 or something but I will tell exactly what I think is wrong your outfit, makeup, WIP, idea, etc. Here's the twist... I'm horrible on the return. Unless I ask for it, I don't want you to be honest back.

Example: You ask me to be honest to you so I am, but then you turn around and say something "honest" about me without me asking for a "critique" -- I hate that! I should be more open about it since I was honest about you but like I said - I'm working on biting my tongue on this one. Again I didn't ask for your opinion - and this is where my defensiveness comes in.

5. Passive aggressive. I know, it's kind of the oxymoron to #4. But I can be very passive and apparently this annoys some people. Unless it's something I'm interested in or passionate about... Frankly my dear's I really don't give a d@amn. No really, I. Don't. Care. And this is another problem... knowing the difference between being passive aggressive or not caring. You decide I guess.

And there you have it. 5 things that I know drive others batshit crazy. However, I'm perfectly content with being imperfect <-- this is one thing I don't have a problem with.

Monday, November 19, 2012

This week we are posting - What are a few inspirational quotes you'd like to pass along to others?

I have 5 quotes I wanted to share. One pertains to writing; the others are life "lessons". I live by more of course. Everyday we are faced with ignorance, stupidity, superficiality, etc. I am constantly reminding myself and my children not to get caught up in the RAT RACE of it all.

And now for something fun and zombified! I'm one of those Daryl Dixon girlfriendsfans. Seriously - if this man walked in here right now - I'd literally keel over and need CPR from him and him only.

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What Would Daryl Dixon Do?

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Everyone have a great Monday and since Thanksgiving will be taking over my life in two and a half days I hope you all have a great week as well!